Everybody dreams of winning the lottery, hoping to hit the jackpot. Most people spend ages fantasising about what they would do with their winnings, calculating how many luxuries they can actually afford. UK money saving website VoucherCodesPro.co.uk has today released information on just what people have spent the money on.

UK money saving website Voucher Codes Pro has today released information on what previous lottery winners have spent their money on. The National Lottery has turned 3,000 people into millionaires over the past 18 years, and there have been some notable similarities and some notable differences between these as well.

The National Lottery was launched in 1994, and over £8.5 billion has been won since then. The average jackpot win stands at £2.8 million. If this were to be represented in £10 notes laid end to end, it would be a 25 mile long line.

So what is it that the money gets spent on? Everybody expects to spend it on luxuries, holidays, care and homes. The 3,000 millionaires that won the lottery were surveyed by VoucherCodesPro.co.uk to find out and some fascinating insights were released:

• It was found that property was the main thing that winners would be interested in. A total of £2.72 billion was spent just on main living properties.
• Most people received sound financial advice and started investing. Around £2.12 billion was spent on this, most of which was for children and the future.
• It also seems people were generous, as £1.17 billion was simply given to loved ones.
The survey then looked at the contributions winners made to the economy of the country, which turned out to be around £750 million, as well as a £500 million tax bill. Most of the money was spent on property, and quite a bit on paying off other debts. Essentially, the information showed that a single lottery winner creates six full time jobs for a year. It also showed that 98% of the spending done by these new millionaires stayed at home.

Other interesting pieces of data were also uncovered, including:

• 59% stopped working.
• 19% stayed in their existing job
• 31% started volunteering.
• 7% helped in hospitals and care homes.
Naturally, when someone wins the lottery, they also spend money on life’s little (or not so little) luxuries. The research showed that:
• £460 million went on cars, with Audis being the most popular, followed by Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes and Land Rover.
• Average price for a single car is £46,116.
• 17,190 vehicles have been bought by lottery winners.
• 27% purchased holidays abroad, with the USA being the most popular destination, followed by the Caribbean, Dubai and the Canary Islands. 68% of winners would choose a five star hotel for their holiday.
• £7.4 million was spent on caravans.

“It is quite clear that lottery winners make a huge contribution to our country”, says a spokesperson for VoucherCodesPro.co.uk. “While many people are firstly overcome by jealousy when they hear of someone striking it rich, the statistics show that their own job may very well be dependent on these people. Additionally, it is clear that most winners are philanthropists, donating their money and their time to good causes, friends, family and other loved ones.”
“The research also provides an insight into the hopes and dreams of the average person. Since behaviours are repeated across the board, it is clear that what all people want is a luxury home, a nice vehicle, a holiday abroad and a caravan near to home. Hopefully, one day, everybody will be able to have this.”

What do you think about whenever US Mega Millions jackpots soar to amazing heights? First, you rush to the nearest lottery agent and buy a ticket, of course! Then, you start making plans: a tour around the world, bathing in champagne, a beachfront house, one or even several luxury cars… We all have fantasies about what we do when we win the US Mega Millions. These dreams keep coming back to us each time we see an advertisement, hear a story about someone who was lucky enough to win a huge prize or see a movie.

Here is an idea of spending a weekend evening! If you want to get into the dreamy mood, here are some suggestions of lottery-themed movies:

It Could Happen to You (1994)

You have certainly admired Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda in “It Could Happen to You”- it’s a classic! This humorous romantic story focuses on the dilemmas a simple guy has to face when winning the lottery. Should he share his sudden fortune with Yvonne, the cute waitress, as promised only a few hours before the lucky draw? What would you do instead of Charlie Lang? He decides to keep his promise and ends up by falling in love with the waitress.

Waking Ned Devine (1998)

An English comedy filmed in a superb location – the Isle of Man, “Waking Ned Devine” tells the story of a complicated plot planned by an entire village to outwit lottery officials and the prize won by Ned Devine. The latter is, in fact, found lying dead on the floor of his house holding the winning ticket. While exploiting the theme of human greed and ruthlessness of society, the film is deliciously humorous.

Lottery Ticket (2010)

Imagine that! It’s July 14th in America and you realize that you’ve won $ 37 million, but all offices are closed. What can you do? That is the big question tormenting this movie’s young, Kevin Carson skillfully interpreted by famous singer Bow Wow. A superb American comedy, “Lottery Ticket” focuses on an always valid theme: the rush for money, an obsession that goes beyond friendship, feelings and sometimes even humanity.

Have you made up your mind yet? No matter which of the three you pick, you will certainly have a great time. Taking the lottery win as a pretext, all these movies exploit the various sides of human nature such as greed, lie, hypocrisy, love, friendship and honor.

When we buy a lottery ticket, what’s the first thing you think about spending that huge cash prize on if you happened to have the lucky numbers?
Many of us imagine that we’d be booking exotic holidays or buying luxury cars, a beach house, that kind of thing. But, in fact, it seems that most lottery winners are actually quite practically-minded when it comes to first purchases with a lottery win.

In a survey by pixmania.com in 2012, winners who had won a minimum of $1 million were asked what three purchases they had made in the first ten days of winning the lottery draw. A surprising number bought what you might think were mediocre or, frankly, dull items with their windfalls.
A quarter of respondents made a new washing machine their first purchase, and the second most purchased item was a new sofa for the living room. An iPad came in as the third most popular – with 17% of respondents buying one. Fourth place went to a new handbag, and in fifth place, sports clothing was another popular purchase.

Household appliances in general made the top twenty list of early purchases, things like TVs, fridge freezers and vacuum cleaners. Surprisingly, few people spent their money on weird and wonderful gadgets that most of us can never afford. For example, no-one bought a pool table that has a 1965 Mustang as its base (yes, they exist), or a self-powered Hammacher Schelmmer suitcase that helps you up the slopes when you’re travelling at a maximum of 3 miles per hour, a snip at $1300.

According to a psychologist who analysed the survey results, there’s a period of adjustment that most lottery winners go through when they first have their win. Although they now have the means to buy what they want, they aren’t psychologically ready to spend big amounts of money. That feeling, though, doesn’t tend to last.

If you’re wondering what the strangest things people would buy when winning the lottery are, there are always some examples. A recent survey by Lottoland, an internet site where you can buy lotto tickets for six different lotteries including Powerball, Euromillions, Irish Lotto and MegaMillions, gave us some weird and wonderful insights into the British psyche when it comes to spending prize money. From the 500 people surveyed, there came a few very odd wish-list items. These included buying a gravestone, re-turfing the lawn, spending the cash in McDonalds and buying more lotto tickets.

If you’re reading this and know what you would do with your win, there’s only one thing to do. Buy a ticket for your favourite lottery and start drawing up that spending list!

The Mega Millions jackpot is nearing $600 million. Yes, that’s a staggering number, and many of us will go out and buy at least one. Have you done so yet? It’s frankly fun to listen to people talk about this. You have those that really get kick out of fantasizing about that they would do with the prize money. Then there are the buzzkills who want to point out the obvious fact that winning is practically impossible as the odds are ridiculous. And of course they’re missing the point.

The idea of sudden winnings and riches is a thrill for most people, so just let us have our damn fun. We want to fanatsize about spending the money, just like we would blow the $1,000 we win in Vegas on strippers and more. We might be smart with our money most of the time, but cash money in Vegas is another thing entirely. That’s one of many reasons people gamble, whether it’s buying a lottery ticket at real casinos or in our pajamas playing 49s. It’s the thrill. So of course it’s not practical, and we all pitty the few fools who become addicted or spend their food money on lotto tickets, but their stupidity shouldn’t ruin the fun for the rest of us.

And then you have stories like of Tom Crist, a retired Canadian man who decided to create a foundation with his $40-million lottery prize and donate all the money to cancer charities. Of course his case is special in that he was a successful businessman and he and his family were set financially. But the notion of giving is also a powerful one. Frankly this notion ends up dooming many lottery winners who get suckered into all sorts of scams. But it’s also refreshing to see a man like this give real consideration to the thought of helping other people, and trying to do it in a way that minimized attention to himself.

So grab a ticket and enjoy the ride. And if this reminder helps you win, remember we’ll happily take a small cut!